Surgical Technician

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 45,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking a Surgical Technician in Houston, TX to support the surgical team across procedures. The role involves scrubbing, preparing sterile fields, and assisting in planning and executing complex surgeries under team supervision.

The position requires operating room experience, grasp of sterile technique, and ability to train students and new staff. On-call and weekend duties are included, with standard day shifts and varying start times.

Qualifications

• 1 year specialized experience in an operating room environment.
• Experience scrubbing and assisting in surgical specialties (cardiac, transplant, orthopedic, neuro).
• Sterile technique knowledge including sterilizer operation, packaging and shelf life.
• Ability to handle instruments, supplies and equipment during procedures; infection control policies.

Responsibilities

• Function as a primary scrub person responsible for handling instruments, supplies and equipment.
• Set up sterile field with all required items for each procedure.
• Plan and discuss each procedure with the surgical team to ensure supplies are available.
• Prepare, organize and maintain highly complex sterile surgical setups.
• Observe, respond promptly and anticipate the needs of the surgeon during procedures.
• Assist with care of the patient, positioning, prepping and transport to OR.
• Provide patient information to RN/Anesthesia for the plan of care.
• Handle specimens, labeling and transport to lab.
• Assist with preparing prostheses and surgical devices during procedures.
• Perform non-technical maintenance of equipment to prevent malfunctions.
• Assist in training residents, medical/nursing students and OR staff in equipment and sterile technique.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 6:45am-3:15pm or 2:30pm-11:00pm; includes on-call and weekends.

Skills

Operating room experience

Scrubbing

Sterile technique

Infection control

Team training

Education

Graduate education (1 year)

Job description

Summary

The Surgical Technician (ST) is a member of the surgical team and provides assistance to the surgeon and other team members during surgical procedures. The Surgical Technician participates with the surgical team members in planning and implementing complex procedures under the general supervision of the surgical team.

Summary

The Surgical Technician (ST) is a member of the surgical team and provides assistance to the surgeon and other team members during surgical procedures. The Surgical Technician participates with the surgical team members in planning and implementing complex procedures under the general supervision of the surgical team.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 10/16/2026. Individual Occupational Requirement for Health Aid and Technician Series (0640): Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists - speech pathologists - medical officers - and optometrists. Therefore - technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge - methods - and techniques of the position to be filled. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include - but are not limited to: experience in an operating room; experience with scrubbing and assisting independently in the surgical specialties (i.e. - Cardiac - transplant - orthopedic - neurological); experience with medical instruments - human anatomy - physiology and aseptic technic to prepare and protect sterile field during surgery; sterile technique to include sterilizer operations and tests to determine the effectiveness of sterilization - packaging - storage - and shelf life; handling medical instruments - supplies and equipment during all surgical procedures; performing proper cleaning techniques - as well as the proper handling and rotation of sterile supplies; handling contaminated items - quality control - and personal hygiene - experience of universal precautions and implementing infection control policies and procedures. OR - Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have one year of graduate education to substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have one full year of graduate education. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school - 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. (COPY OF TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). OR - Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an equal combination of specialized experience and graduate education. For more information on these qualification standards - please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Duties

The Surgical Technician Major Duties include but are not limited to:

• Function as a primary scrub person responsible for handling instruments - supplies and equipment
• Set up sterile field with all required items for each procedure
• Plan and discuss each procedure with surgical team to ensure all supplies and equipment are available prior to surgical procedures
• Prepare - organize and maintain highly complex sterile surgical setups
• Observe - respond promptly and anticipate the needs of the surgeon during surgical procedures
• Assist with care of the patient - i.e. - positioning - prepping - obtaining supplies and transportation to and from the operating room
• Provides patient information to the RN/Anesthesia Team for inclusion in the patient's plan of care
• Handle all specimens appropriately - including labeling - keeping organized on table and transporting to lab
• Assist with preparing skin grafts - suctioning - holding retractors - applying skin stables and cutting sutures
• Prepare prosthesis and surgical devices during procedures
• Performs non-technical maintenance of equipment to prevent malfunctions
• Assists in training residents - medical students - nursing students - operating room technology students - and new Operating Room staff in the operation of equipment - sterile technique - handling of instruments - and OR procedures to include the scrub role in surgical procedures
• Performs other related duties as assigned
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 6:45am-3:15pm or 2:30pm-11:00pm
• Includes on-call and weekends
• Subject to change due to needs of the facility
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Position Description/PD#: Surgical Technician/PD04157A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized